My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils’ bats come out to support Roy Halladay as they beat the first-place Reds, 12-5.

The Phils’ offense refuse to let up as they defeated the Reds, 12-5.

The Reds took the lead in the first as, with the bases loaded, via singles by Zack Cozart, Chris Heisey and Brandon Phillips, and with noone out, Jay Bruce hits an RBI double, knocking in Cozart, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead, before Heisey is thrown out at the plate on a good throw by second baseman Chase Utley, after first catching right fielder’s Dom Brown throw into the infield, with Erik Kratz applying the tag, for the inning’s first out, while Phillips stops at third base. The Red then made it a 2-0 lead as Scott Rolen hits an RBI ground out, 5-3, scoring Phillips. The Phils got a run back in their half of the first as, with one man on, and with two men out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, knocking in Juan Pierre, who had earlier doubled, then stole third base, cutting the Reds’ lead down to 2-1. The Phils tied the game up at two-all in the third as, with two men out, Howard hits a solo home run, his eighth home run of the season. The Phils took the lead in the fourth as, with two men out, Kratz hits a solo home run, his seventh home run of the year, giving the Phils a 3-2 lead. The Reds tied the game up at three-all in the fifth as, with a runner on third and with two men out, Heisey hits an RBI double, scoring Devin Mesoraco, who had started the inning off with a double, then moved up to third base on Mike Leake’s sacrifice bunt, 5-4. Two batters later, after Heisey moved up to third base on Phillips’ single, the Reds retook the lead as Bruce hits an RBI single, knocking in Heisey, giving the Reds a 4-3 lead, while sending Philips on to third base. The Reds then took a 5-3 lead as, with Rolen batting, Bruce got picked off first base, and was soon caught in a run down, 2-3-4-3-6, before finally being tagged out by shortstop Jimmy Rollins, caught stealing, but not before Philips scored from third base. The Phils got a run back in their half of the fifth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Utley hits an RBI double, knocking in Pierre, who had earlier singled, making it a 5-4 Reds’ lead. Two batters later, after Howard is intentionally walked, the Phils tied up the ballgame at five-all as John Mayberry, Jr. hits an RBI single, knocking in Utley, while sending Howard on to third base. The Phils then took the lead for good as Brown followed with an RBI double, knocking in both Howard and Mayberry, giving the Phils a 7-5 lead. The Phils then added to their lead in the sixth as, with a man on third, and with nobody out, Utley hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Rollins, who had earlier doubled, then went to third base on Pierre’s sacrifice bunt, on which Pierre would reach first safely, giving the Phils an 8-5 lead. The Phils then took a 10-5 lead two batters later as Mayberry hits a two-run home run, his eleventh home run of the year, knocking in Pierre, who had earlier stole second base. The Phils then made it an 11-5 lead in the seventh as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, Pierre hits an RBI single, scoring Placido Polanco, who had started the inning off with a walk, moved up to second base when Kratz was hit by a pitch, then went to third base when Rollins hits into a force out, 5-4, as Kratz is wiped out st second base for the inning’s second out, while Rollins, who was safe at first on the force out, would stop at second base. The Phils then took a 12-5 lead in the eighth as, with the bases loaded, via a single by Mayberry, a walk by Brown, moving Mayberry up to second base, and a single by Polanco, and with one man out, Kratz hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Mayberry, while sending Brown on to third base. That would be the final score as Josh Lindblom pitched a scoreless ninth.

Roy Halladay (7-7, 3.95) gets the win as he pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and a walk, while striking out just three Reds. B.J. Rosenberg, Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom combined for two scoreless innings, giving up two hits (Rosenberg (1), Bastardo (1)) and a walk (Lindblom) between them, while striking out three (Bastardo (2), Lindblom (1)). Mike Leake (5-8, 4.50) took the lost as he went four and a third innings, giving up seven runs on ten hits and a walk, while striking out four. Sam LeCure pitched two-thirds of an inning, plus two batters, as he gave up two runs on a hit and a walk. Jose Arredondo pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit, while striking out two. Logan Ondrusek pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter, while striking out two.

The Phils collected fifteen hits in the ballgame, with Juan Pierre (2 Singles, Double, RBI) and John Mayberry, Jr. (2 Singles, Home Run, 3 RBIs) both leading the ballclub with three hits apiece, followed by Ryan Howard (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs), Placido Polanco (Singles) and Erik Kratz (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs) with two hits each. Jimmy Rollins (Double), Chase Utley (Double, 2 RBIs) and Dom Brown (Double, 2 RBIs) had the other three Phils’ hits. The Phils also had four walks, a hit batter (Kratz) and two stolen bases (Pierre (30 & 31)) in the game.

The Phils (57-65, T-3rd East) will continue their series with the Reds (74-49, 1st Central) with a game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and is to start at 7:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (2-7, 3.83), who is coming off a no-decision against the Brewers on August 16, when he went seven and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on five hits, as he struck out twelve, in the Phils’ 7-4 lost. He will be once again trying for his first win at home since last September. The Reds will counter with Homer Bailey (10-8, 4.16), as he is coming off a lost to the Mets on August 16, as he threw five and two-thirds innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out six, in the Reds’ 8-4 lost. He will be trying to even up the series. The Phils will be trying to record their fourth straight win.

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